origins | first diagram | vocabulary | early heroes | the future | informal exclusion

I'm very proud to have created and nurtured the Notschool.net project for more than 11 years from 1998 - 2009. Today, after more than a decade I have parted from chairing the charitable Trust that currently runs it - they are now on a very different path philosophically to me, I'm afraid, and I think there are now better ways to impact on Inclusion in the 21st century. But this document narrates the birth of the project - there is much still to learn from those pioneering early years.

Inclusion, decent opportunities for all learners regardless of circumstances, making the best of the talent our young people embody... these have been elusive targets for education systems. Back in 1997 I proposed that we used new technology, on-line communities and a new organisational structure to help attain those targets and unlock the unrealised talents of so many... and we got started in 1998.

As founder of notschool.net, I am hugely aware of the many who, in the early days, put their careers and their commitment on the line to make this apparently maverick project fly: ministers, civil servants, LEA officlals, the many on-line workers, my own team, alumnii, and parents.. The thousands of children whose lives have been changed by notschool.net are a testament to their faith that this was worth supporting. This brief history of the early days pays them back, a little, for their faith and braveness.

origins | first diagram | vocabulary | early heroes | the future | informal exclusion

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today, notschool.net is run by a charity, the Inclusion Trust which I chaired until 2009 - philosophically they are now heading in a direction I don't favour, so have stepped down, with some sadness. You can find the Inclusion Trust here.

this page authored, and last updated, by Prof Stephen Heppell - latest changes made on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 12:54 PM